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Media Audiences
Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power
Second Edition
- John L. Sullivan - Muhlenberg College, USA
July 2019 | 368 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Whether we are watching TV, surfing the Internet, listening to our iPods, or reading a novel, we all engage with media as an audience. . Despite the widespread use of this term in our popular culture, the meaning of "audience" is complex, and it has undergone significant historical shifts as new forms of mediated communication have developed from print, telegraphy, and radio to film, television, and the Internet. Media Audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power 2nd Edition explores the concept of media audiences from four broad perspectives: as "victims" of mass media, as market constructions and commodities, as users of media, and as producers and subcultures of mass media. The goal of the text is for students to be able to think critically about the role and status of media audiences in contemporary society, reflecting on their relative power in relation to institutional media producers.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. History and Concept of the Audience
SECTION I. AUDIENCES AS OBJECTS
Chapter 2. Effects of Media Messages
SECTION II. AUDIENCES AS INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTIONS
Chapter 3. Public Opinion and Audience Citizenship
Chapter 4. Media Ratings and the Political Economy of Audiences
SECTION III. AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE USERS OF MEDIA
Chapter 5. Uses and Gratifications
Chapter 6. Interpreting and Decoding Mass Media Texts
Chapter 7. Reception Contexts and Media Rituals
SECTION IV. AUDIENCES AS PRODUCERS AND SUBCULTURES
Chapter 8. Media Fandom and Audience Subcultures
Chapter 9. Online, Interactive Audiences in a Digital Media World
Chapter 10. Conclusion: Audience Studies in an Era of Datafication
Index
About the Author
"Great introduction for Level 4."
University of Brighton
"The best book in the field right now."
"Good primer for students, you can’t go wrong with this."
"Yes, it links theory with examples and research. The only thing close is Abercrombie and that book is hugely dated. I see it as a successor to Abercrombie."
Griffith College – Dublin
"Sullivan has written a lucid and challenging introduction to the study of media audiences from both scholarly and industry perspectives. The complex conceptual material will stimulate and engage the most curious students while providing practical directions for emerging scholars and professionals."
Trinity University
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 2. Effects of Media Messages
Chapter 6. Interpreting and Decoding Mass Media Texts
